Mount Scopus Jewish pupils targeted with Hitler salute in Burwood

Jewish students were targeted by a teen waiting at a bus stop, sparking warnings of an anti-Semitism problem in Victorian schools.

Victorian schools have a “serious problem” with anti-Semitism, a civil-rights group has warned, after a schoolboy allegedly performed a “heil Hitler” salute to Jewish students.

The incident reportedly took place last Thursday, when a bus from Mount Scopus Memorial College – a Jewish school – drove past a group of people at a Station St bus stop in Burwood.

A Jewish woman notified the Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) and said the boy, wearing a dark navy uniform and a blazer with a yellow logo, clearly aimed the salute at the Mount Scopus students.

ADC Chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich said the “terrifying incident” was proof of anti-Semitism’s presence in schools.

Dvir Abramovich has slammed the rise of anti-Semitism in schools. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

“(This) demonstrates that anti-Jewish bigotry is now normalised, and that people are less inhibited about expressing their hostility towards the Jewish community in public,” he said.

“I am sure that most parents would be mortified by this horrifying outburst of venom.

“There is no way that this student did not know that this hateful salute is a symbol of evil, and represents the murder of six million Jews, including 1.5 million children.”

He said concrete actions — not excuses or empty rhetoric — were needed to fight anti-Semitism’s “escalating threat”.

“Such violent gestures not only scar and traumatise the victims but shake the affected community and leave many scared and vulnerable,” he said.

The Victorian government announced plans to outlaw hate symbols – including the swastika – late last year, but there is no law against the ‘heil Hitler’ salute.

Mount Scopus Memorial College principal and rabbi James Kennard, whose students were allegedly subjected to a horrific gesture. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

The witness, who did not want to be named, told the ADC she was disgusted and outraged, saying: “Did I really just witness such a thing in 2022?

“I wanted to ask the boy, ‘Do you know what that salute actually means and what it represents for my people, for the Roma, the disabled, the homosexuals who were targeted by this evil man (Hitler)?’”

She said she did a U-turn to return to the bus stop, but the boy was gone by then.

The shocking incident occurred just days before a government inquiry into extremism in Victoria held public hearings, which began on Tuesday.

The Legislative Council inquiry will investigate the rise of far-right extremist movements in Victoria, including the risk they pose to the state’s multicultural communities.

It comes amid an ongoing lawsuit against the State of Victoria, with five former Brighton Secondary students of Brighton Secondary alleging the school tolerated anti-Semitic bullying.

The State of Victoria denies all allegations and the trial is ongoing.